Are You Holding Your Camera Wrong?

If there's anything the Internet loves more than cat photos, it's pointing out to people that they're doing something the wrong way.

In this video, portrait photographer Irene Rudnyk responds to complaints that she has received in YouTube comments about the way she chooses to hold her camera vertically. For her entire shooting career, she has always held the camera vertically with the shutter button toward the bottom. As it turns out, many people have been systematically taught that this is wrong, and that holding the camera vertically should always have the shutter button towards the top.

After doing a little digging, Rudnyk claims she coincidentally found that male photographers almost always teach the shutter on top method, while it was only female photographers that taught the shutter on bottom preference. For me personally, I too was taught that shutter on top was the only correct way after first starting out doing it shutter on bottom. I changed up my style to not look like a fool, and now it's just muscle memory. But Rudnyk's demonstration as to why this style of shooting might not be comfortable to women was news to me, and I think knowing this we should back off a little on the assertion that all photographers need to work one way or they are "wrong."

Ryan Mense is a nature photographer based in the Twin Cities. His images are characterized by vibrant colors and uncomplicated, meaningful compositions that strongly translate in publication and fine art printing.

Alongside gear reviews and news, Ryan heads selection for the Fstoppers Photo of the Day.

63 Comments

Wow, why on earth would anyone care how someone that makes excellent pictures handles their camera? This seriously screams "mansplaining" to me, and I'm not one to use that term lightly. I bet every single one of those commenters can't touch Irene as a photographer. This is so stupid that it's difficult to believe, yet internet comments continue to surprise with the sheer depths of their idiocy.

I think most of the commenters (on this post) are supporting Irene, and that's a pretty broad statement to mansplain your opinion about how anyone commenting about their work not holding a candle to Irene. But hey... welcome to the internet!

It seems like you're upset because I used the term "mansplain", hahaha. You then use the term incorrectly in an nearly incomprehensible mess of a sentence. Yes, I'm willing to bet that someone dumb enough to mansplain to an awesome photographer about the way they hold their camera is probably not a great photographer. I would bet money that her work is way better than any of theirs.

It really depends on the situation. The way you hold your camera should be primarily for stability, but you also have to take into consideration space. Grip on top also puts your elbow way out, and that might not be too great for a crowded space. Then there's also the problem with shutter button down in that you don't have as much of a grip on the camera.

It's not that there's a right way or wrong way, what she's trying to say is that there's a reason you might want to do it differently.

I wear glasses, making it impossible to actually push the viewfinder or camera up to my face proper. I find that holding the camera vertically with the shutter button on top helps because my right thumb can be pressed up against my forehead, adding a point of stability for the shots I'm taking. I vote for shutter button on top.

The only "wrong way" to hold something that I see is the way some people hold the lens from the top side.
Holding from down side of lens helps to get a better stabilization and yes, I'm from Brazil and I'm using google translate. ;)

I'll hold my camera several different ways, depending on the shot and the environment. When shooting with an ultra-wide lens from close to the ground, sometimes I don't even look out of the viewfinder half the time because I have gotten very used to what to expect framing-wise.

Old as dirt photographer here. She is using her left eye and holding the camera in a way that she can steady it for her body type and strength. Don't overcomplicate this. The only two things you need to know is "hold it steady so you get the shot" and make sure your stupid elbows aren't in the way of the other photographers and people sitting next to you. As a very young photographer I learned that lesson very quickly when sitting next to a bunch of photographers shooting NBA basketball games. Nothing pisses off a photographer, whose on deadline trying to get the shot, more than your elbow in front of their lens.

For anyone who uses her or his left eye on the viewfinder, grip down will probably be more comfortable because their nose will stick out past the prism beside the top plate of the camera. Likewise, anyone who uses their right eye to look through the viewfinder will find the grip-up orientation more comfortable. Using a camera the other way round means that the user's nose is jammed against the rear LCD. So, for Irene, and all other left-eyed photographers, holding her camera the way she does seems to be the more natural and comfortable option.

It has always struck me as strange that camera designers have never taken into account that the vast majority of their users have a nose that sticks out in front of the eye that will be placed next to the viewfinder. (Leicas are probably the most left-eyed-unfriendly cameras.)

I am right-eyed, and I normally use the camera grip-up, but will change it over whenever it feels more convenient to do so, for example, when bending down, but I always use my right eye on the finder. I always keep my left eye open so that I can see what is going on outside of the frame - quite often there is something more interesting there. Grip-down blocks my left eye view. Exactly the opposite applies if you are left eyed.

Do what works for you. Me, I shoot manual, rangefinder cameras, usually with heavy, large-diameter lenses.

When I need a vertical shot, I support the lens with my left hand. It's easier for me to focus and control aperture with my support hand. In the process, I have to be careful not to block either of the rangefinder windows.

That leaves me with the shutter release up top. Not right or wrong -- just practical.

Quite simply there is NO right or wrong - whatever puts you camera in the most stable position is the correct way. My goal is support the camera with my left hand on the balance point/lens (elbow braced against chest) and remove any weight/strain on my trigger finger.

This typically means shooting 'down' with both elbows braced against the chest, but depending on body position (eg crouching) I may revert to 'top' shooting.

Those who are adamant that 'top' shooting is correct should consider how they shoot landscape (ie elbows against chest for rigidity). It makes logical to me that we'd want to achieve the same goal of support when turning the camera.

And there is the gender-related cultural explanation that is, actually, at least 30 years old.

The idea is that women tend to take "space saving" postures and men tend to take postures that consume more space. That's a distinction noted between Western men and Japanese men as well, and, indeed, camera manuals from Japan display an "elbow down" posture for shooting verticals.

So the supposition is that "elbow out" is just another example of "manspreading."

However, back in the days of cameras with relatively heavy mechanical linkages with plunger releases, the "elbows out" position did provide a tighter grip that better separated the hold on the camera from the action of pressing down the plunger, and thus promoted a sharper image (shutter speeds were slower back then, remember, with ASAs rarely above 400).